The Way You Are series
by corneroffandom
Summary: Short Zack/Dolph stories.
1. Comfort

_What are you doing now that you're retired, bro?_

_How long ago did WWE fire you?_

_Where will we see you next?_

Zack Ryder glowers down at his Twitter account, scanning various tweets sent to him recently. He's not sure if it's some sort of prank he's not privy to, or if everyone is just this stupid that they can't search WWE's roster pages on the website, but he's really tired of trying to convince people he's still with the WWE. Maybe for not much longer, at the rate things are going, but still...

"Are you trying to break that phone with the power of your mind?" a teasing voice asks him, warm hands resting against his as they pry the device out of his tense fingers. "What has you so hot?" Zack's jaw works angrily as he looks away, Dolph Ziggler skimming the phone, all hilarity leaving him as he realizes just how ridiculous some of the assumptions being made have become. "Oh... kid."

"It's nothing," he mutters, reaching out to take his phone back. "Just the usual stupidity. Could you-?" But Dolph holds the phone away from him, staring through more of the tweets, wincing at some of the more extreme ones. "Bro-"

"Kid, just-" He dodges his hands, continuing to read more of the short messages sent from the WWE Universe. "Good God." He skims through some more before Zack stands up and uses his slight height advantage to reach out and snag Dolph's hand, pulling the phone from his fingers. "Kid!"

"Stop reading the-... c'mon, you get a bunch of stupid tweets too, just- I don't want you reading this crap." He powers his phone down and stuffs it in his pocket, sitting down again, his back now to Dolph.

Dolph swallows and stares at him for a long moment before walking up to him and hugging him around the shoulders, kissing the side of his face. "Sorry, kid. I guess it's a little harder for you, huh, since you were the Internet champion, and you started the whole social media frenzy... now this all happens and it's kind of hard for you to avoid reading it, right?"

"Yeah." He leans into Dolph's warmth and releases a faint breath. "I guess they think it's funny to tweet this crap to me so often... which makes sense, I am basically just a joke anymore..." Ziggler stares at him, shaking his head softly as he continues trailing kisses along his cheek and across to his mouth until he quiets his words, Zack mumbling against his lips. "What was that for, bro?" he asks, a little dazed, once Dolph pulls away, smiling at him.

"You're not a joke to me, and I hate when you start talking like that about yourself. C'mon, kid. You're really going to let a few braindead tweets get the better of you? Just ignore them, they're not worth your time..." He stands up and grips Zack's hand, tugging him upright once more. "Let's get some sleep, alright? It's been a long day and you look pretty wiped out."

"So do you," he concedes, allowing himself to be dragged to the bedroom. They take their turns in the bathroom, Zack laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling while Dolph takes a quick shower, his physical and emotional exhaustion weighing him down like a heavy blanket.

When the platinum blond exits the bathroom nearly ten minutes later, rubbing a towel through his hair, he smiles upon finding Zack fast asleep on the bed. He finishes drying his hair and lays down next to him, kissing him softly before pulling the sheets up to cover them both. Snuggling closer, he wraps his arm around Zack's midsection and squeezes him slightly. "Night, kid. I love you."

_The arena looks weird. Cold, empty. Faded, somehow. Like he's looking at it through someone else's eyes. Zack frowns and enters anyway, even the door's slam sounding muted. He glances around with a grimace. Nothing looks right and it scares him. He squares his shoulders and continues to walk, not understanding. Techs are racing around, doing this and that, but none of them seem to be noticing him. "Hello?" he offers experimentally to one of the referees as he rushes past. "Hey, Charles, bro, what's the hurry?"_

_The man doesn't respond and he winces, wondering if he'd done or said something to get on his bad side. "Great," he mutters, wandering towards the locker room. Miz walks past, busy on his phone, and Zack pauses. "Hey, bro! What-" But Mike turns the corner and is gone, not even bothering to look up, and Zack's eyes widen. "What, no one's even going to look at me?" Muttering to himself, he pushes the locker room door open angrily and looks around at the various people scattered inside. "Hey, what's happening, bros?" he calls out as loud as he can, once more freezing when absolutely no one reacts. "Are you serious, bro? What'd I do? Why are you all ignoring me?"_

_No matter what he does, waving his arms in front of faces, calling people's names right in their ears, no one notices. No one looks. No one cares. A horrified shiver creeps down his spine and he sits down, burying his face in his hands. He remains there until the door slams open once more, Dolph himself coming in and talking cheerfully into his cell phone. He sits not far from where Zack is at, the broski looking over at him as he finishes the conversation and hangs his phone up, digging around in his bag to find his gear. It's so familiar that it almost hurts somewhere deep in Zack's chest as he stands up and walks towards him, almost ready to throw his arms around him when Miz returns and drops down next to Dolph. "Sucks that Zack's gone, huh?"_

_"Yeah, well, the writing was on the wall a long time ago, no one just wanted to have to be the one to tell him," Miz says with such ease that Zack's jaw drops in disbelief._

_"No, no, no," he mumbles. "Not you too! Bro, I'm right here, can't you see-?!" He reaches out for Dolph but his touch is ignored, Ziggler not even twitching in response. "Dolph!"_

"Hey! Kid, whoa, whoa, it's ok, I'm here. Shhh." Warm arms are wrapped around him, soft breath tickling against his cheek, and he slowly gasps for air as Dolph soothes him. "Calm down, it was just a nightmare, kid. Breathe."

"No one could see me," he chokes out, clinging to Dolph. "No matter what I did, who I tried talking to, it's like I just... I just wasn't there..." He trembles and shivers in Dolph's arms. "I'm there, dammit, why can't anyone see me anymore?"

"I can," he whispers to him, brushing his fingers through his sleep-limp hair. "I always can, kid. It was just a dream, you're not invisible. We see you, those of us who really matter have always seen you."

Zack sighs and buries his face in Dolph's hair, sniffing morosely. "I guess." He sits up and cups Dolph's face, staring deep into his eyes. "Thanks, bro. I love you too." He leans in and kisses him softly, smirking when Dolph takes control, digging his fingers into Zack's arms as he pulls him closer, the kiss growing more intense.

"You heard me, huh?" he asks, pulling away after a couple of minutes.

"I always hear you." Zack smiles at him, brushing his fingers through his hair. "Thanks, bro." He ducks his head in embarassment, groaning softly at the reaction he'd had to such a ridiculous dream. "And thanks for always taking care of me."

"My pleasure," Dolph tells him lowly, kissing the side of his neck. "Do you want to try sleeping again?" Zack nods slowly and Dolph smiles. "Good, kid. Now c'mon. Just remember, if something happens, I'm here. I'm always gonna be here."

"I know." He sighs and leans into him, closing his eyes with a small smile. "'Night."


	2. Fashion Statement

Dolph Ziggler groans as he's helped backstage, referees careful not to put too much pressure on his back as they walk him past the gorilla position. His hair is in front of his eyes, blocking his vision so he can't see, but when warm hands join the referee's, he doesn't have to look to know who it is. "Kid."

"Hey, bro, c'mon, let's get you to the trainer's, huh?" Zack's arms are supporting but gentle around him as he leads him back through the halls, listening to him breathing raggedly with a frown.

"Sorry your shirt got ruined," Dolph mutters, staring down at the ground as he struggles to put one foot in front of the other. "Sandow is such a jackass..."

"Don't worry about it, bro, I'll give you as many of them as you want. It just meant a lot that you would wear that here, since I wasn't booked." Zack squeezes his side before he needs a hand free to push the trainer room's door open, directing Dolph inside and to a free cot so his back can be looked at.

"Of course I wore it, you think I'm gonna let people forget about you if I can help it?" He grunts faintly as the few remaining strips of his clothes rubs against his battered back, adding to his agony. "I wish I could do more to..." He closes his eyes and sighs as laying down only intensifies his pain, his teeth gritting against it.

Zack kneels down next to the cot so they're eye to eye and smiles sadly at him. "You do more than anyone else, bro. And it means more than you'll probably ever know." He rubs Dolph's arm, trying to distract him from his pain while they wait for the trainer to come and make sure he's going to be ok. Dolph blinks wearily at him, tilting his head as Zack leans forward and kisses him. "Thanks."

"No need to thank me," he mumbles, brushing his fingers against Zack's jaw. "I'd do anything for you, kid."

"I know, bro." Zack reaches up and squeezes his hand, smiling slightly. He stays there, by the cot, until the trainer comes in. He brushes his fingers against Dolph's palm before getting to his feet and moving aside so the trainer has plenty of room to examine Dolph's back. It seems to take forever, the trainer saying very little as he examines the various wounds along his spine from the street fight. Finally he straightens up and makes a couple of notes on a nearby form, Zack returning to Dolph's side and helping him to sit up when the trainer says he can get dressed, wincing sympathetically when he sees the pain etched on his face. They sit side by side, Zack pulling a blue shirt out of his bag and draping it over his shoulders, guiding his arms into the sleeves before he buttons it up. "How's that feel?"

"It's alright," he says, rocking forward slightly. "I'll be fine until we get back to your apartment." With their being in Long Island, there's no reason to book a hotel, Zack's apartment only a short drive away, and Dolph's never been more relieved for that fact as he is tonight. After the trainer tells them what he recommends- rest and pain killers, ice, yada- they leave, Zack leading the way back to his car. Dolph sprawls out in the backseat, so he can lay on his stomach and not put weight on his injuries, blinking sleepily as he listens to Zack humming to the boyband music playing lightly on the radio. He almost doesn't notice when they arrive, but he does note when Zack's fingers are brushing through his hair, pressing soft kisses against his forehead to wake him up. "I'm not asleep," he slurs.

Zack laughs. "Sure, bro, you were wide awake the entire car ride." He helps him to sit up, giving him a minute to brush the sleep out of his eyes before leading him inside. "Go get in bed, I'll be there in a minute after I put our bags somewhere you won't trip over them."

Dolph nods drowsily, leaning in to kiss Zack before following his suggestion.

Zack hums, dropping the luggage in the coat closet before grabbing a bottle of water and heading into the bedroom. He pauses in the doorway, smiling at Dolph's back. Venturing over to the bed, he trails his hands across Dolph's shoulders and down, careful against the faint marks along his flesh. "In case you get thirsty overnight, bro," he says, resting the bottle on the bedside table. "This way you won't have to get up for it."

"Thanks." He blinks tiredly, face half-buried in his pillow, when Zack presses a soft kiss to his shoulder, settling in next to him on the bed. "Kid?"

"Yeah?" Zack leans forward, lightly pressing his fingers against his spine, massaging him gently. "Don't worry, I'll take it easy, bro. But if I start to hurt you, let me know."

"Mm, yeah." He sighs sleepily. "I really did like that shirt, y'know. It smelled like your stupid body spray, and whenever I was in Las Vegas, it was like having you still with me... Damn Sandow."

Zack's eyes soften as he continues to work out the tension in Dolph's back, sending him further towards sleep. "Here," he whispers after a few minutes, Dolph's eyes nearly shut entirely. He slows the massage before removing his hands completely and standing up, crossing the room to look through his closet for a few moments. "Come on," he mutters, finally finding a shirt that he'd actually worn recently, the lingering scent of his aftershave blatant. "Voila." He turns back around. "Here you go, bro-" His voice dies away when he realizes that Dolph's fallen asleep, his lips parted slightly as he breathes deeply. "Well, damn. I guess I'm a better masseuse than even I knew." He smiles and walks back over to the bed, laying the shirt against Dolph's arm, wondering if it's close enough to be a comfort to him.

When Ziggler shifts and grabs the article of clothing, pressing it close to his face, Zack chuckles and leans in, lightly kissing him on the lips before shutting the lights off and laying down next to him, watching him sleep. "Good night, bro."


End file.
